Better the Fae You Know
by LunaBlue1882
Summary: The Scooby Gang is stuck in the town of the Lost Girl crew for a few days before heading home. Little did they know that a trip to a local bar would cause so much trouble. Rating is for future parts
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes:

This is set after the final season of Buffy, and after Lost Girl's season 3. I just watched the season finale a couple days ago. I will try to fill in the blanks of how the group got back after the mess of the "The Wanderer" story. I have no beta so please let me about any problems. This is the first story that I've written in 8 years so please review.

Posted On Twisting the Hellmouth under ZhannRose

Posted on under LunaBlue

"Barkeep one of your finest."

Trick looked up from the bar to see Kenzi walking in dressed in her best. Purple leather mini that with black fishnet stockings on her legs and arms, a cream vest and high heeled boots up to her knees. Before she had time to hop up onto the stool her had a pint sitting in front of her. "On your own tonight Kenzi?"

"BoBo is out with the D-man tonight, actually they are in that's why I'm out." She already felt better not being in the house with the loudly happy couple.

"You do remember that Bo is my granddaughter, I don't need to hear about that." He smiled at the human girl that was much his granddaughter as Bo. Kenzi at least looked a little ashamed for having embarrassed him, but she would never admit it. "So if you're out looking for company Tamsin and Hale are over at the pool tables." He had already filled three more pints and was working on the shot glasses, "Here head over and take theses with you." Kenzi picked up the tray that Trick pushed across the bar and headed over to the duo. Kenzi didn't get to the tables though before she ran into trouble.

Xander could not believe his luck, less than ten steps into the bar and he already was covered in beer. Well that is what he thought till he looked up and saw who had dumped the drinks. He couldn't seem to make his brain form a sentence. Lucky he wasn't myself, "Hi, I'm Willow this is Buffy and my one eyed friend here is Xander. Please let us buy you another round, we're new to town. We don't want to cause trouble, we just wanted to get out of the hotel. We're only in town for a couple of days waiting for our flight back to Cleveland." Willow never paused as the words rushed out. Kenzi stared at the strange red head wondering what kind of fae she was to be able to speak that fast without breathing.

Buffy laughed at the expression that the other petite woman wore trying to decipher Willow speak. "It's ok it takes a while to understand her when she babbles. The next round is on me." And together the quartet made their way to the bar where Trick was waiting to find out what was going on.

By that time that Xander had found his tongue, "Another round for…" he paused waiting her the raven haired woman to offer her name. Kenzi however was however enjoying his discomfort and was trying to size him up. At first he looked like an easy mark that a younger version of herself would have used and thrown away. But an older Kenzi saw more there, with the eye patch as a distraction it was easy to not notice anything else. She nevertheless looked over the average clothes of jeans and shirt and noticed that he carried himself with a confidence that she could relate to. She pegged him as a human that was used to keeping up with the fae surrounding him. She was still letting him hang, liking the idea of being the mysterious one for once when Hale ruined the affect.

"Hey little mama. Thought you were heading over with the next round." He stopped and noticed the group that was watching as he placed his hat on her head. "Are they causing you trouble?" Hale looked over at the two women and something just felt off to him about the two especially the blonde. Kenzi wasn't his human but she was still family and he would protect family.

"No, we walked into each other. I was just going to get another round." In fact she didn't even wait for Trick she just walked behind the bar to help herself. Of course Trick chose that moment to come over and shoo her out.

Trick looked over the newcomers "Welcome to the Dal Riata the local waypoint. I'm Fitzpatrick McCorrigan. If you two ladies will follow to check in," he stated as he walked out from behind the bar to lead them over to the other room. Buffy and Willow just stood there staring at him trying to figure out what was going on and what this bartender was talking about.

Finally Buffy spoke up uttered, "Huh?" She followed behind him without thinking.

Trick pulled the big register book out as they reached the room, picking up a pen as he took a seat. He gestured to the chairs across from himself. "Names, species, alignment and your business in town please."

Willow figured that they must have walked to some kind of demon bar, and that they realized that Buffy was a slayer but they didn't recognize her as the world's oldest slayer. No one had attacked, in fact most of the people ignored them so she figured that it couldn't hurt to be honest. "I'm Willow Rosenberg." She spoke out loud. But Buffy heard more in her head, _"We're only in town for a couple of days and they seem friendly enough. No need to ruffle up the local demon population as long as no one is in danger."_

"I'm Buffy the vampire slayer." She said as if that answered all the possible questions that the stranger in front of her could think of. Buffy was trusting Willow's judgment.

Trick looked at the two women trying to figure out if this was a joke. He had heard rumors that there was some rouge fae that was killing the more aggressive under fae that were calling themselves slayers. He could feel the power rolling off the two of them but he had just could connect the blonde with the strength that the rumors referred to; there was no way that she could take out a windigo bare handed. Trick felt that he needed help, he saw Hale and signaled him over.

"Call Bo and Dyson, I think that we're going to get the rest of the team together for this one."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bo and Dyson were lying in bed just in enjoying the silence now that they had chased Kenzi off. The pair weren't worried about her being alone, they both knew that she would make her way to the Dal. Dyson had talked with Hale that afternoon at work and arranged for the siren to be there to keep her company. For her Bo on the other hand had to simply make sure that her roommate knew what the pair was up to as soon as Dyson walked in the door. It amazed the succubus how much it bothered Kenzi to be alone now. She knew that the younger girl had a rough childhood. It was heartwarming to see how much Kenzi had opened up over the years.

Bo was at that moment reminded by Dyson as to why they had decided to get their roommate out of the clubhouse that night. Dyson leaned over his mate trailing his hands over her chest nuzzling her neck. Bo felt the rumble as he growled, she was still amazed that the vibrations could touch so many places in her body at once. She pulled his head in for a kiss, she used the distraction it caused to roll them over so she could have control this time. For his part he was happy to let her have her way this time, they had the whole night ahead of them.

The couple in bed were startled by the ring of both of their phones. If it was just one they would have ignored it at least for another hour or so. Two phone calls usually meant trouble though so they each reached over and answered at the same time.

"Hale"

"Hey Kenzi" they said in unison each listening to the other to confirm their thoughts.

Xander noticed the signal to the two that were left standing next to him at the bar. Once they walked away phones in hand he figured it would be for the best if the three original Scoobies were together for whatever was coming up. He was starting to regret his choose of letting Willow pick a place for food and drinks tonight. It was Willow's love of the food that Giles had introduced her to during her magic rehab that lead her find a traditional English or Irish pub in every town that they travelled through.

"What game are you playing? Calling yourself a slayer with the recent stories that are coming out of Alaska is not funny." Trick said as he tried to calm himself down.

"It's not mean to be funny. And what stories out of Alaska are you talking about? We were in the middle of nowhere. There was no one around to see anything. I just wanted to eat a meal that dehydrated in a pouch." Buffy pouted. This was not fair how could someone have seen anything, that demon was alone they tracked the thing for a week. The three Scoobies sleeping in one tent because there was the nearest town was over a 100 miles away.

Xander had made it over to the group having to push his through the crowd that was now forming near the doorway were his friends were. The other fae in the bar had noticed how Trick had reacted to whatever was being said in the room and each wanted to be the first to report what was going on to their leader. Xander stood behind his friends' chairs. Deciding that someone had to be the spoke person for the group he decided to try and break the ice.

"Nice place you've got here." Xander was hoping to lighten the mood. "Well I'm Alexander Harris, but everyone calls me Xander." He had his hand out to the other man.

Tricked stared at the human trying to figure out this group of misfits. "Well I was trying to register your friends here, which one claims you?" Trick was confused the man was human but had hold himself in such a way that said that he was unaffected by the fae surrounding him. He started to wonder if the one eyed man knew that this was a fae way point. "Do you know what kind of pub this is Xander?"

"First I don't belong to either of them, I'm single again. And two I'm assuming by the way that you pulled Buffy and Wills aside that this is a demon bar right?" He started off sure of himself and the more he said the more he questioned his reasoning. "I mean you did just what to make sure that Buffy wasn't here to slay someone right?"

"Look, we're not here to cause trouble we just wanted a warm meal and a few drinks. I'm sorry we didn't know that we would cause trouble by being here. We'll just leave and get dinner somewhere else." Willow was getting nervous, maybe this wasn't just some random demon bar like the one that Lorne ran back in LA.

Trick had a bad feeling that these were unaligned fae that he was dealing with, they seemed to have no clue of what he was talking about. He had to think quickly to keep this from blowing out of portion. The Ash and the Morrigan would be easy but the Elders on both sides that would be the problem. He looked the three over and spoke, "Please excuse me then we can go someplace more private to speak."

Trick walked back over to the bar and let the bartender know that he was headed downstairs and that he should send down Dyson, Bo and Vex once they arrived. He waved over to three already there letting them know to follow. As he walked past the newcomers he addressed them. "I think that it would be best if we spoke downstairs."

Willow and Xander looked over to Buffy silently asking her what she thought. With a shrug of her shoulders she stood up and followed the four people downstairs. They had faced worse odds and survived.

"Do you know what you are?" he asked. He thought it would be best to figure out just how much they knew.

"Witch wicca-y witch but still a witch. And Buffy already told you that she's the slayer, well I mean a slayer." Willow responded looking over at Buffy and Xander she added, "I still used to saying that like she's the only still one."

Hale looked the red head over trying to make sense of what she said. She was talking about witches and slayers. Lucky for him and the other fae in the room that Kenzi was there. She realized what was happening. "Oh dude you don't know what you are do you? I mean you don't know that you're fae."

That one word was enough for Willow to start to understand what was happening. "But the fae are just legend I mean they're not real not like vampires and demons." But even as the words left her mouth she was questioning them.

"Well where to you think that you powers come from? You do have powers right, what do you do anyway?" Kenzi loved meeting new fae and this group was great because they wouldn't know that she wasn't supposed to ask that question.

"In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone must stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." By the time that she finished both Willow and Xander had joined Buffy in perfect unison that only come from repeat performances of this speech.

While Trick, Hale, Kenzi and Tamsin processed this Willow spoke to her friends telepathically. Well do think that I should show them. I think that will make them more likely to believe Buffy. And they already know that we're different. Both Buffy and Xander nodded their heads. They knew there was no denying Willow's powers. So Willow lowered her shields to draw the magic in and was shocked by all the energy that she felt. She hadn't felt this much power in since the Hellmouth collapsed, but it wasn't all dark like home it was balanced here. She let the light power fill her, she hair turned white as it flowed in a wind that wasn't present. Willow turned her glowing eyes to the four people surrounding them.

Tamsin's mouth dropped open as she saw the girl's power open up over the whole room. "Sidhe… I…I thought they were extinct."

Trick could not believe his eyes he thought the sidhe were all gone as well. They had died out hundreds of years before he was called Blood King. Hale looked back and forth between the girl and Tamsin trying to figure out what she was talking about, he had heard the legends had he wasn't old enough to have ever seen one. "Are you sure that she is one?"

Trick nodded his looking at the women in a whole new light. "You can pull on dark power too right?" He asked.

Slowly Willow released the light and changed pulled on the dark power that she felt. She had never had the land give her power so freely. The black took over her eyes first and slowly the roots of her hair turned black taking over the white like water flowing through the strands. Willow wondered how he had known she that she pull from both sources so distinctly. No other witch that she had met could draw from only the light or dark, they had to pull from both and bend it their will wasting power. She didn't waste any energy trying to make it work for her. She put her shields back in place and was instantly back to looking like the unassuming young woman she was before.

"Oh my god that was so cool!" Kenzi was bouncing in place. "Can you do any other colors? My name is Kenzi by the way"

Buffy laughed it seems that Willow and the young girl had broken the ice. Everyone looked up as the rest of the party arrived.

"So what's the what?" come Bo's voice as she walked down the stairs with both Dyson and Vex on her trail.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note:

Thank you so much for the reviews. And try not to worry I'm working on making sure that Willow doesn't become the Mary Sue of the piece. Even I can see that leaning that way right now. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit my story with the Lost Girl season three finale, it was only aired here in the US less than 48 hours ago. I'm rethinking the plot in my head to try to make things fit.

Chapter 3

As the trio walked into the room Buffy quickly looked them over trying to determine their threat. The tall man immediately threw off warning bells in her head. She knew the look of an apex predator. Dyson for his part knew with one look that it was the small woman that they needed to worry about not the man that accompanied them.

Kenzi was so excited still that she barely looked up and didn't even greet her best friend, instead she continued talking to the visitors. "What can you do? I mean other than the hair and eye thing?" she paused and looked over at Buffy. "And what do to you mean vampires, demons and the forces of darkness?"

Xander took this as a chance to prove how much he had grown since the destruction of Sunnydale. "I think that we need to talk. Obliviously you guys aren't normal humans so how about we all share?"

"Well I already went and Buffy told them that she's a slayer," Willow said before sighing and mumbling, "not that they believe her."

"Slayer you say." Vex shouted. He had been dealing with rumors of someone killing under fae calling themselves a slayer for months now. The Dark Elders were pissed that someone was playing in their world without permission. They were threatening to have him replaced as the Morrigan. "Do you realize how much trouble you've caused? The Elders want my head on a stick and you act as if this is perfectly normal. Most of those under fae you killed were leaving people alone. Only the occasional human stupid enough to go where they did belong got hurt."

"Occasional human? It's my job to slay the demons that hurt people. I've learned enough over the years I leave the peaceful ones alone. But that last one up in Alaska was eating hikers four this month alone that is not occasional." Buffy was upset no one talked to her that way. This guy was defending the demons. She stood up and walked toward the dark man with too much makeup on.

The blonde woman moved with the grace of the predator that she was. Buffy was mad and anyone that defend the demons she killed needed a lesson. Vex didn't want to find out she had in mind, he raised his hands to control and stop her but nothing happened. She grabbed him by the throat pinning him to the wall. But before she could do anything else the other blonde had thrown herself at Buffy causing them both to tumble to the floor.

Both women quickly rolled to their feet to square off. Buffy moved first kicking out trying to take Tamsin off her feet. Tamsin saw the move coming and easily dodged and punched out catching Buffy off guard. Buffy was surprised by the force that the other woman had, she wasn't going to have to hold back with her. Buffy kicked again only this time there was nothing that Tamsin could do to avoid it, the power of it knocked her down. Tamsin hadn't had a fight this fun since her and Bo. They traded blows for several minutes before she decided to finish it. Tamsin stared down Buffy and let her power flow out, her features taking on the deathly aura of a Valkyrie.

Buffy stared her down she had no idea what was going on she was ready to end it as she prepared to strike again she heard Willow shout. "Enough, Buffy you showed them please don't make things worse."

Trick had seen enough too, shocked by the fact that neither Vex's or Tamsin's powers didn't work on her. "Alright I think that we all need to calm down and figure this out. Why don't we start with introductions?" He offered, he needed to get control of the situation before someone was hurt. "Bo please call the Ash, I think we could Lauren's help here as well."

Bo stood in the corner and did of Trick asked unsure of what was going on. Once done she rejoined the group. "The doc is on her way, Liam said that he would trust both Dyson and Lauren to represent him here for now. Hi I'm Bo the friendly neighborhood succubus."

Willow started by pointing to herself and her friends according, "Willow, Xander and Buffy. So if you a succubus what are the others?"

"Well I'll warn you now most fae hate that question. But you don't even know what fae are so…" Bo replied. She was hoping that the others would at least say something to keep the ball rolling. She still remembered how scared she was that first day when Dyson and Hale had kidnapped her. It would have been so much easier if someone had just explained things to her first. Hale was the first to respond and slowly everyone had at least introduced themselves by name.

"I think that we should start from the beginning." Buffy started, the Sunnydale gang had no choice really. The odds here just kept getting worse. "Have you ever heard of Sunnydale or the Hellmouth?" And with that the story started. The three friends took turns helping move the story along from first meeting a vampire slayer to the collapse of an entire town.

The older fae in the room knew what a Hellmouth was. Hellmouths were places to be avoided, the dark power and the under fae that they attracted were dangerous. Trick realized that if that is in fact where they were from it made sense that they won't know they were fae. That still left the question as to why their parents never told them.

During the story Lauren had arrived and was aching to ask questions. Once they had finished she couldn't wait any longer. "So you turned girls all over the world into fae? I don't understand a person is either fae or human."

Willow was now in full geek mode as Xander would call it. "I've wondered about that too. It appears that all the slayers share a genetic marker. I'm guessing that it would stay dormant unless a potential was called like Buffy or Faith. But the spell I did that day flipped the switch in everyone carrying the marker."

Lauren stared at Buffy thinking the theory over wondering how to best ask the women for a blood sample. Buffy recognized the look as one that Willow would get on occasion whenever a new puzzle presented itself. "No! No way I'm not a blood bank. I already let Willow talk me into it. You'll just have to find yourself another slayer doc."

"If you don't mind I can call Faith and have her meet us here. It seems like we'll be staying in town longer that planned anyway trying to figure out what to do." Xander offered. He wanted more of their people here. They were greatly outnumbered by the sounds of it the whole city was full of fae. The two groups needed to figure out how to get along. They all knew that they were lucky they hadn't ran into the other before.

Vex knew his answer was yes. He needed answers to be prepared in case his people ran into other slayers. The idea of a fae that was immune to the powers of other fae was dangerous, especially if they all were as strong as Buffy. "I say that you call that Faith chick tell her to get her ass up here. The Dark won't protest to Lauren here running test as long as we have access too." He looked over at Dyson as the representation of the Light in the room. As long as both sides worked together they should be able to handle a few more strangers.

Dyson nodded his head, "Yeah, Liam will want more answers as well."

Xander was already on the phone with Faith, if she left that tonight she could make to Canada by tomorrow afternoon. He passed the news on to the room and it was decided that they should call it a night. Everyone would meet at Lauren's lab around four in the afternoon the following day.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"All you have to do is clink the link that I sent you. Giles come on I've taught you the basics I know that you know how to open an email now. Fine get Vi I'm sure that she can get it running." Willow waited as she listened to the noises in the background. She could not believe that Giles couldn't even manage to get the video call started. "Hi Vi yeah I sent a link to him but it sounds like he crashed the program to open it…Yeah that's the right one."

Behind her Buffy and Xander where sitting at the table waiting for Giles to appear on Willow's computer screen. Every remote slayer teams traveled one. Everyone at headquarters preferred being able to hear the initial field reports directly from the parties involved. Suddenly the window popped up and there was Giles and Vi.

Willow hung up the phone and joined the others. "Thank you Vi."

"No problem. I'll get one of the other girls to give Giles a refresher course later." And with that Vi left.

"Yes well now that this is working why don't you more about the problem."

"Well G-man, we ran into a group here that called themselves fae. They insist that Buffy and Willow aren't human to start with. They want to run some lab tests to prove they're right. We've already called for backup, Faith will be here tomorrow. I told her not to bring any of the training slayers. I think that they would be too much at risk to help"

"Yes well I agree Faith's experience will be of more use than any of the others from the LA house. Willow did they stay anything else about fae. I've ran across stories in my research but nothing to prove that they were more than stories." Giles was looking for paper to take notes that way he could look for any helpful information later.

"One of them called me a sidhe, the short one named Fitzpatrick even knew that I could pull on power differently than other witches. And the Tamsin woman did something freaking during the fight with Buffy."

"Buffy fought one of them?"

"Not really we just sparred I think that she was testing me. But just before the others broke us up she did this thing with her face. It was like watching her face melt into a skull, it made my Slayer Sense tingle. It gave me the wiggins. Not to mention that guy Vex felt creepy just before I grabbed him."

"Buffy I understand that you were probably upset but you must not always hit first. I had thought that you past this phase. Well is there anything as that you can tell me about this group."

"Yeah after Buffy and lady death finished they finally remembered their manners. There's a woman name Bo called herself a succubus, Hale said he was a siren. I thought sirens were women that killed men well singing to them." Xander said.

"Yes well that is the story, I'll see what I find on both sirens and succubae. What did the others say? Earlier you said that there were seven people?"

"Well for the others we only got names. The short one was Fitzpatrick Mc…Something." Willow said sheepishly, she felt bad for forgetting the detail as important as a last name when that was one of the few leads that could help them. "He said that everyone called him Trick. The silent guy is called Dyson and then there was Vex. He kept talking about the Elders…"Willow trailed off again.

Buffy decided to finish, "Kenzi said that she was human; and so did the doctor, Lauren, when she showed up."

"Yes well that gives me a place to start. I'll have Dawn help as well. Get some rest I'll update as soon as I find anything relevant." Giles didn't even say goodbye he just stood up and left. He was going to be in research heaven with all the info they had managed to get him.

Willow closed the laptop and started packing up. They all wanted some sleep, sleep in a room to themselves. One week in a tent reminded the three best friends that there was a difference between sharing a house together and having no way to spend time away from each other. "Goodnight, Xander call us when Faith gets here. Till then I'm sleeping." With that Willow was out the door.

Buffy heard the noise in the hallway and just rolled her eyes. She knew they were in trouble the moment that she heard the other voice with Faith. At least he wasn't her problem anymore. She just rolled over and to get some more rest before they had to get ready.

Willow next door didn't hear the voices carrying down the hall from the elevators. The first that she knew about Faith's traveling companion was the pounding on her door. It was so loud that she rolled out of bed when it startled her. After picking herself the floor she was mad. There was only one person that was willingly to risk her wrath waking her up early like that.

As she opened the door it began, "What are you doing here? Faith told Xander that she was coming by herself. The least you co…" she was cut off before she could get any farther. The kiss was amazing as always and left her speechless, as was planned.

"Hello to you too pet." He smirked and walked into the room leaving Willow standing there in the open door. Faith watched from across the hall in Xander's doorway. She laughed before closing the door leaving Willow to deal with the blonde wonder on her own.

She closed the door and turned to glare at him lying on the bed. Oh how she wished that she could just sleep for another hour even. Willow knew better though, Spike was not going to let her rest. "So are you going to tell me why come all the way from LA with Faith?"

"You told me that you would only be gone for two weeks that was almost a month ago. Plus she said that you three had managed to find trouble within hours of getting to town. I'm not going to leave my girl to deal with that alone." Spike reached over and pulled her back into bed. "So we got here early, looks like we have a couple of hours to kill." He hands slipped under the hem of her camisole. The moment that she felt his cool fingers make contact with her nipple fighting was a lost cause.

"What was I supposed to do stake him?"

"Well, yeah. I'm surprised that you didn't push his ass out of the car at sunrise." Xander was not happy about Deadboy Jr being here. Spike had a way of saying what everyone was thinking at the worst time. Even Xander realized that they needed more diplomacy that. And he would never admit it out loud it was kind of nice not to being the only guy here, especially with both Faith and Buffy.

"So did you get me a room or are am I bunking down with one of you?" Faith was tired. Xander was right Spike almost didn't survive the drive.

"Room 827 its just two doors down, here's you keycard. I'll call your room around 2:30 so we can meet up with everyone."

"See you later Xan."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Well, Trick any idea where to start?" Bo asked her grandfather as soon as Dyson left the room to escort the trio out of the Dal.

Trick was already moving to the bookshelves fingers running the spines trying to find something useful. "Right now the only thing that I know for sure is that one them is sidhe."

"Right well than what can she do then." Bo asked. She hadn't been there yet when Willow had drawn on her power. Plus being new to the whole fae community she didn't know that they were supposed to be gone.

Vex however was old enough to know that the sidhe had died off long ago. "What the hell is wrong with you? Even I can't tell the Elders that I let a sidhe walk out of here." He knew better to question the Blood King, he said she was sidhe then she was. There were rumors that the Blood king had once train with the Seelie Court. "Why didn't you say something earlier? And how did you find out?"

"Will someone please explain what you two are talking about?" Bo was confused she hadn't seen Vex this nervous since the Redcaps where after him.

"They are an ancient race that disappeared a long time ago." Dyson told her. He had silently reentered and was just listening. "Why don't Hale and I see what info we find on them and their hometown Sunnydale? Maybe we find out if their story is true at least."

"I'll drive." Hale added. He assumed that Dyson and Bo had only brought her car and didn't want to leave her stranded. So with something to do the two detectives left.

Trick couldn't find any books on demons; or at least labeled under fae as demons. He was wanting to find something on the slayer. Several of the demons they described were clearly some of the more violent under fae. He remembered that around thirty or forty years ago he had traded some demonology books to a young man at Oxford. Trick had received some important fae histories for the want he thought were fairy tales for a lack of a better word. They had kept in touch for a while each letting the other know when they heard of something on the market that related to their fields of study. Maybe he could find the contact information for the man, any lead would help.

Lauren was on the phone talking to the Ash. She figured that he needed to know what was going on and that the compound was going to have visitors tomorrow. "The Ash please. Hello yes sir Dyson left, he and Hale are running background checks on the names that they gave us. It appears that much like Bo they do not realize the source of their powers. No not all of them are fae they have a human with them. Yes it appears that the one named Buffy is the source of the slayer stories going around. Yes I understand. Well they have agreed to come to the lab tomorrow. I wanted to run some labs and see if I can classify what type of fae they are. They are bring an additional friend another slayer, yes four total. Yes Dyson will be there. I will make sure the others here know to expect the additional security measures. Thank you goodnight."

"You didn't tell him." Vex said.

"No. I didn't want to give him unconfirmed information. Plus if I told him that one was possibly a sidhe he would never have agreed to them being at the compound. As it is there will be extra security." Lauren was not happy that Vex had noticed her slip but it was the only way that to get The Ash to agree.

"Vex just leave her alone. You know that Doctor Hot Pants is right." Kenzi wasn't afraid to stand up to the Dark Fae leader. The friendship that they had formed after the battle with the Garuda was still strong between them. "There's nothing else to do till tomorrow so I say let's get our drink on." This was just one more time that Kenzi felt useless, there wasn't anything that she could help with.

"Actually I was hoping that you and Bo could check out the local hotels and try to find out where they're staying. We have no assurances that they will show up tomorrow it would be nice to have a set of eyes on them in case they try to leave town." Trick was starting to worry that Vex was right. Maybe they shouldn't have let them leave.

"I'm going to get going I want to get some rest so I can be ready and prep my lab." Lauren stood and awkwardly stepped forward to hug Bo before deciding against it. It had been over a year since they had called it quits but some days it still hurt. They were slowly rebuilding a friendship, learning how to be together now.

Giles didn't have any books on the fae anymore. The few that had been in his family's collection he had traded for rarer demon texts and slayer prophecies. He was trying to remember the name of the man, he didn't think he could get the books back. Instead Giles was hoping that the gentleman might at least be able to give them some information.

"Hey I can't found anything in the usual online databases. Any luck in the dead language department." Dawn asked stretching. They had been at this for hours now and they were both coming up empty handed. Almost everything that Dawn had found online about fae involved RPG's like Andrew was always talking about. Maybe calling Andrew might help, he was at the Florence house right now. Either way though she serious doubted that Giles wanted to hear the idea.

"No, I'm going through my contacts there was someone at Oxford that I once traded texts with that might be able to help if I can just remember his name." Giles was currently sitting at his desk turning pages in a tattered notebook. He really wished that he had kept better records when he was younger. He knew that the information was in here somewhere the mess of ramblings and song lyrics of his youth. If memory served it was a traditional Irish sounding name.

"If you don't did any help I think that going to head to bed." Dawn yawned out the words. At this point she had been up for twenty hours. The words were blending together, even if she did find something useful she won't be able to recognize it.

"Yes, yes that sounds fine." Giles replied without looking away from his papers. Then he saw it, "Dawn what did Willow say that the bartender's name was?"

Dawn walked back over to the table and started to scuffle around the pages of notes and scribbles looking for the right one. Once she had it she was able to answer, "Fitzpatrick McSomething… but everyone simply calls him…"

"Trick." Giles finished for her. It was there in his notebook. Well at least the two groups knew had a place to start. It appears as the two patriarchs of the families were old acquaintances. "Before you leave could you find the number for the bar that they went to? It appears that my contact info is terribly out of date, my records have him living in Ireland." Dawn could only nod her head as she sat back down at the computer. It took only a few minutes for her to find the number for Giles. She handed the scrap of paper to her mentor and left.

He slowly reached over for the phone, he had little idea of how the conversation was going to work. Giles truly believed however that it could only help his kids. In rang for a long time and he was just about to give up for the time being when someone finally answered. "Yes. Hello may I speak to Fitzpatrick McCorrigan please." And with that things changed yet again.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Trick heard the phone ringing upstairs in the bar. The sun was just rising, he couldn't figure out who would be calling that number now. He had heard from Bo and Kenzi a couple of hours ago they had found the hotel. The group were checked into the hotel under the own names. It was starting to appear that they had been honest. Dyson and Hale would call his private number, but he figured it would take them a couple more hours since they were using lawful channels for info.

"Dal Riata"

"Yes. Hello may I speak to Fitzpatrick McCorrigan please." Giles was suddenly reminded of the time difference. As he heard the weariness in the man's voice on the other end. He also knew that if he was right in his assumption that the man on the other end in the same position of himself, trying to piece things together without having all parts.

"Speaking." Trick was abrupt. With everything else going on that last thing he had time for was some strange Englishman waking him up.

"Are you the same Fitzpatrick that was in Oxford during in the early seventies?"

"And may I ask who you are?"

"My name is Rupert Giles, if I am correct I believe that you several of my charges recently."

Trick was shocked he remembered that name now, this was the very person that he thinking of earlier while in his library. Things were starting to look up, the puzzle was finally making sense. He laughed to himself before continuing. "So know we both know that the other wasn't crazy."

"Yes that does appear to be the case. I realized this evening that I had traded or sold all of my books regarding fae to one person many years ago. After looking to try to contact them and gain insight I finally connected the information."

"So all these stories are true. For all these years I thought you were just a human playing in magic."

"Yes well that was mostly the case back then I'm afraid. But I have grown to accept my responsibilities, and they include the three young adults that you spoke with tonight. I want to reassure you that they wish no harm to anyone there. In fact in seems that could adventitious to all involved to work together on this."

Trick didn't know what to say, he wasn't in a place of power to negotiate anything. "I will let the local leaders know of your desire to come to a peaceful conclusion to the situation. But I just the keeper of a way point, it will go a long way if they keep they agreement to meet with the local leaders and the tests that are asked of them."

"Yes I understand I was hoping to make sure that they would be safe. Buffy, Willow and Xander are greatly outnumbered."

"As long as they not attack first I will use what little pull that I have to see to their safety. But I fear that Buffy has already made enemies due to reports of under fae being hunted down recently. And Willow's power will scare them, there has not been a sidhe reported for over a thousand years. They are powerful and if what she says is true also very young. There are many stories of young sidhe not being able to control their powers with disastrous results."

At that bit of news Giles was speechless for a second. He still remembered the spell that left him blind. Not to mention that her first major spell was restoring Angel's soul by herself. "Yes … Well I will admit that issues have arose, however it has been years now since there was a problem. Willow has received training from the best white witches that we have been able to find. I know she has made mistakes, however she is doing her best to repay those errors. Willow has grown into a responsible young woman."

Trick noticed with how much attachment the other man had as he spoke of Willow. It reminded him of Bo, in such a short time his granddaughter had find a permanent home in his heart. "If she really is only in her twenties she hasn't reached full maturity of her powers yet and that is the problem. She must complete several rituals yet, and for one she needs another sidhe. I will talk with her this afternoon and try to explain things to her. Can you tell me though what you know of her parents?"

"Nothing really. The Rosenbergs are both highly respect psychologists though by the time that I arrived at Sunnydale they are gone ten or eleven months of the year. Truthfully I doubt that they realize that their house was destroyed two years ago. She is like my own daughter, all of them are my children. I will not sit by idly if they are harmed in anyway." Ripper was coming through. He had literally faced demons from hell for his children and would do so again if needed.

"Is there a chance that they are other than human? Sidhe are a little different, but traditionally fae children are only born to two fae parents. If her neither of her parents a sidhe than somewhere is one in her family tree. The stories are that they are the only fae that can breed true with humans. That's part of why it's still such a mystery that they all disappeared." Trick thought at loud, maybe it wouldn't hurt to have another person helping. The young women was going to need another sidhe to help her.

Giles was quietly excited. It seemed that his old friend was willingly to share information. "Perhaps I can help research this from a new angle. Is there any way that you can send me the relevant material here in Scotland? I'm sure that Willow could figure out digital copies even."

"I will see what I have here and make some notes for you of what I remember. I'm sure that Willow could use the equipment at the lab this afternoon to forward things to you."

"Thank you. I will admit that this went much better than I had hoped for. I will be in touch." With that Giles ended the call. They still had a long way to go but they had made progress. Giles would have to call Willow later after he got some rest himself. He didn't want them to walk in without being updated, and having all the information.

Trick felt relieved a little by the call. He remembered the young man that Rupert had been, headstrong and intelligent but not reckless. The two had met up on several occasions dealing several volumes of text and conversions over a pint or two. One day Trick had walked into the pub and Rupert was nowhere to found, he had rumors from students at the university that the young man had lost his father. He hoped for Rupert's sake that he would be able to keep them safe. But was he willing to expose himself as the Blood King to the Elders to do? He only hoped that it didn't come down to that.

Author's notes:

I hope that everyone is enjoying so for. I want to take the time to thank AllenPitt, VillageOrchid, CPTSkip, Cmiller, and all the other wonderful people over at Twisting the Hellmouth for the reviews and helpful feedback. It makes writing seem that much faster. I'm also running a poll over at . I'm trying to figure out who to pair Kenzi up with

Xander

Vex

Hale

Other

Please let me know what my readers here think.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Spike I need to answer that. Its Giles maybe he found something useful." Willow was stretching over Spike trying to reach her cell phone on the nightstand on his side of the bed.

"I know that it's the Watcher. Xander gave him that ringtone from the show X-Files that he's always watching. He can wait." Spike was not done with Willow. His demon demanded that he remind her not to leave him for that long again. He wasn't hurting her his soul would let him, but he would make sure that she never wanted to be away from him. The phone had gone silent, "See I told y…" but before he could finish the sentence the phone rang again. That was the final straw for Spike he answered but before Giles could even realize that he had he was told to, "Sod off!" And with that the line went dead as Spike ended the call.

"You do know that he will Buffy or Faith come over now right?" Willow tried to glare at Spike but it was hard to stay mad at him. They had a fight about a year ago when she first found that he was alive again. Angel called to tell them the Wolfram & Hart was gone. Willow had showed up in LA talk to Angel about setting up a training house for slayers and found Spike there too.

"The old man won't call Buffy, and Faith just spent 6 hours with me in a car. She won't come near me till it's time for our fieldtrip." Spike leered at Willow lunging forward capturing her, kissing her neck. "That reminds me. It was a long trip with the slayer and she arrived in one piece. Do I get a present for my good behavior?" His attention never left that smooth column of skin, she relaxed under the light pressure of his mouth and hands.

They were both shocked back into their surroundings due to the voice coming through the door. "Open now are so help me Spike I will introduce you to Mr. Pointy. "

"Told you." Willow got up from the bed and let Buffy in the room. "I only ask that you only injure him. He can't train with the slayers if he became a big pile of dust." She asked her friend.

"Answer your phone, so Giles won't call mine for you. And please control your puppy, I don't know what he said to Giles but I'm surprised that he hasn't rubbed his glasses away by now. You're the one that decided to keep him."

"You know that I'm sitting right here slayer."

"Yeah, I'm trying to ignore that. And by the way ….Put some clothes on." Buffy picked up his jeans from the floor and managed to hit him in the head with them.

Willow just shook her head. This was such a change from when Buffy had first found out that Spike was still alive, and no less in a relationship with Willow.

13 Months Ago

Willow walked into the Hyperion hoping that Angel and team were willing to join the new Watcher's Council payroll. They needed a place on the west coast to house and train some of the younger slayers, plus LA was close enough to the Sunnydale crater to make sure that everything stayed closed. The military already tried to dig through the rumble, but that had been quick to solve. "Anyone home?" She called out.

Spike had heard the voice and thought that he was hearing things. He looked across the desk at Angel waiting to see if the other man had heard her too. Angel was enjoying watching Spike fidget, as Willow started walking through the hotel opening doors. He knew that he was going be in trouble once Willow found he had been lying to her. But his grandchilde had wanted to remind hidden from the Scoobies, but Spike should have realized that he couldn't hide forever from them.

Slowly the doorknob to the room opened, "There you are Ang…SPIKE?" She was frozen in her tracks, Buffy had told her how he died in the pit closing the Hellmouth.

"Hello Red," was the only thing that he could think to say.

"Well why don't I let you two catch up." Angel retreated from the room.

"How? Why didn't you call? You know that Buffy wasn't the only one that mourned your death?" Willow was near tears. She hadn't realized how much of a friend Spike had become over the years till she told that he was gone. In his own way Spike had helped her after Oz had left and that she wouldn't have been able to make it through the last year in Sunnydale without him. He had helped her try to live with the knowledge that she had almost ended the world. In returned she helped him accept his soul. He decided that she deserved the truth and started the story.

Once she had finished Willow looked him in the eye. "You should have called." With that she walked out looking for Angel. She still had business with him, but that didn't mean that she had to talk to Spike. Over the next week they reached a deal, Faith was arriving with a slayer team in another week. She would be staying to run things with Angel.

One morning Angel walked in the kitchen and found Willow finishing up her breakfast. "You should know that he was afraid. At first it was the thought of seeing Buffy, he knew that why she cared for him in the end it wasn't love. He couldn't face that." Angel was tired of watching Spike brood about Willow avoiding him, he finally understood what everyone meant about himself. Angel knew Spike well enough to know why Willow's silent treatment was bothering the younger vampire so much. "You should know how much your friendship met to him. You were the only reason that the others agreed to help him after he got the chip. I owe you for taking care of my family when I failed him."

"Fine, I understand the Buffy thing. But if I meant so much to him why wouldn't he let me know that he was alive again. I needed him and he left me but I forgave him because he died saving us, saving the world. I pulled major mojo activating all the slayers. I still struggle with my magic I feel the pull of both the light and the dark. I needed someone that would understand and he was gone." Willow was crying she never planned to let anyone know how much she had grown to love Spike. Unrequited love was something that she could deal with, she had years of experience. She turned her back to Angel to hide the emotions in her face.

Willow didn't have to say it out loud for Angel to know how she felt. One thing that Spike had taught him as Angelus was love. He knew that given half a chance that Spike would love her in return, if only she would give him half a chance. "If you needed him then maybe he could still help." He was gone before she turned around.

Willow sought out Spike after that. "I feel the power and sometimes I think I could do it know you know, bring her back to me. But I it not's fair, she's at peace now it would be wrong to do that to her. I needed to have just one person to remind me that I wasn't alone, someone not afraid or using me for my power. Even now the Buffy and Xander still get a little freaked out when I use magic."

Spike looked up as she started speaking unsure of how to respond. It reminded of the months in the basement before the final fight with the First. She told him things that the others were afraid to hear, how could they understand the pull of that much power. "You're right she deserves to be at peace. She was a good person Red, she never belonged on the Hellmouth she was better than that place."

"Yeah she was, wasn't she?" Willow whispered around the tears now freely falling. "I glow now sometimes when I do major magics like what I did with the scythe, but you didn't see that did you?"

Spike realized why she had changed the subject and it wouldn't help either of them to continue. "No I didn't, maybe you can show me sometime. Blue thinks that I'm her pet. So things change we just have to learn to change with them."

He moved forward to hug her but once she was in his arms he couldn't stop himself. The kiss was soft and hesitant at first but deepen. They both needed the unquestionable acceptance of another. Illyria found them several hours later asleep together on the couch, she didn't understand why but she was glad to see someone caring for her pet. There were things that Spike needed that she could not give him, hopefully the red head wouldn't hurt him.

The next week went well the new couple spend all their free time together. But they still hadn't talked about the elephant in the room till the night before Faith's arrival. "We have to tell her. We can't hide from her forever."

"And why not?" Spike was not happy being reminded that with slayers coming Buffy would found out about him, about them.

"It will be easier if we tell her instead of hearing about it from one of the kids. You know that we can't forbid them to talk about it, which will only make it worse."

"Fine but you know she won't be happy. And I reserve the right to tell you I told you so."

With a kiss to his check she answered, "I would disappointed if you didn't. So how about a shower before we tell her."

After they were dressed for the night she called Buffy. "Hey Buff yeah I needed to talk to you. Are you alone right now? Good there's something that you need to know but I need you to promise to hear me out ok?" Once Willow had received reassurances from her friend she tighten her grip on Spike's hand and they disappeared from the Hyperion. Spike suddenly found himself standing in Buffy's private rooms in the Cleveland house.

"Please don't hurt him." was the first thing out of Willow's mouth. She was afraid of how Buffy would react to seeing Spike.

"Why because he wouldn't tell me that he was back or that he let Andrew know first?" Buffy had a feeling as to what Willow was going to tell her. Andrew wasn't able to keep secrets, but she had figured that he would see her when he was ready. "Andrew was only able to avoid me for about two days before he told me that you and Angel been in Rome."

"Oh right, about that I tried to see you but you were out on a date so…" Spike didn't know what to say. He had loved Buffy but she hadn't loved him back. That didn't mean that she didn't care just that she had meant more to him than he did to her. Willow on the other already loved him and he was falling for her. They shared a desire to be better than the darkness that called to them. He moved forward toward Buffy, having to let go Willow's hand.

That movement drew the blonde's eyes to watch as the couple let the other go. Buffy realized then why Willow had teleported them to her instead of just doing this over the phone. "So was it ever real Spike? Did you mean anything that you said to me?"

"Of course I did. But I know now that I was just a substitute for Angel. You needed to prove that it wasn't your fault that it wouldn't work with him, but his. You needed a vampire to prove your theory." Spike was bitter. He was right Buffy had used him in many ways. It had hurt him so he lashed out and hurt her with his words.

"Willow's just a way to prove that it was my fault than. I mean if you can have something with her than I'm the one that's broken right?" Buffy had pulled Mr. Pointy from somewhere and stood before Spike ready to rid herself and the world of the bleached menace. She risked a look and Willow and realized her mistake. "Just leave before one of us makes things any worse. I'll call you Wills, I just need time." With that said she left her room. Buffy knew that her friendship would survive with both of them but first she had to get over her own feelings of betrayal.

"Just call him back he sounded like he had found something info for you. I'll you two in Xander's room with Faith so we can get lunch before we deal with these people."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"They are appear to be on the up and up. The official reports all say that the town collapsed after a gas line explosion opened up several underground caverns. But that isn't the weirdest things by a long shot." Hale was sitting at the bar trying to figure out how to explain what Dyson and he had found.

"Something was happening in that town. I know that they said it was a Hellmouth, but Trick that doesn't even begin to explain things." Dyson had been shocked by how blind the local police had been. "For one thing the leading cause of death was barbeque fork wounds that resulting in blood loss."

"Yeah if barbeque forks were the weapon of choice of gangs on PCP." Hale replied. "Trick man I'm telling you these three kids are lucky to survived high school. The year book I found online had obituary section that was larger than the senior class. And the how about the school blowing on graduation day."

Trick listened to the two police detectives. He realized that they recognized a cover up police report when they saw on. That was the main reason the fae kept people like them in their job. They could easily lead the fae problems to dead ends so that humans wouldn't discover the fae. Trick also knew that both men did what had to be done, but that didn't mean they liked it. This just reminded them of their own deceptions. "How about the individuals?"

"Xander was easy. He was born and raised in Sunnydale worked construction before the town collapsed. There was a number of police reports of domestic abuse calls when he was younger. But they stopped around 98." Hale answered. "Willow had some NSA files, they suspected her of hacking several government databases but they could never prove it. Plus if it was her she only looked at some basic reports and blueprints. Now that Buffy girl, has some issues."

"What do you mean?" The more that Trick heard the more questions that he had.

"Her freshman year of high school she burned the gym down during a school dance in Los Angles. She did a stint in an alyssum after that. In Sunnydale things were worse. According to the police reports she fought with the gang on PCP during parent teacher night. She was questioned regarding a rocket launcher that had been stolen from a local military base used in the local mall. They never charged her for it because no one was injured the only some unexplained blue goo was found at the scene. There was a lot that she left out of her history." Dyson wouldn't have been able to believe half of the reports that he read if he hadn't seen her face of with Tamsin.

"Now that's fire power." Of course would Kenzi would focus the rocket launcher. "I wonder if she still has it?" Tamsin grinned silently agreeing with Kenzi. If the story was true at least Buffy was willing to think outside the box to get her mark.

Trick was starting to get concerned at hearing the news that the two women had police files. "How about their families? Their parents have to be fae or they're adopted right?" Bo asked. Of course Bo would be the one to think of this detail with her background.

"With Buffy you're right, but I already know that Willow is sidhe. The sidhe could have fae children with humans. Even if the pairing did result in a human child they could in turn produce a sidhe further down the bloodline. It's part of what makes them so powerful, it's also what makes their disappearance so hard to explain." Trick knew that hearing this would be hard for Kenzi. The young woman had a hard time recovering after the druid had finished with her. The worst part was how he had got her hopes up.

"Yeah we thought about that. Buffy's mother, Joyce Young Summers died of cancer. Her father Hank Summers moved out east a few years back. He works in advertising but seems ordinary. No records for either in the fae databases for the light at least." Dyson was all business. He knew that they had to be alert, the whole situation seemed off to him. There was too much missing information.

"Willow's parents are highly respected, published psychologists. Her father Ira is from a well-respected Jewish family that immigrated after World War II. Her mother Shelia though changed her name the summer before she started attending Harvard and not just her first name. Deidre McCionaoith became Shelia McKenna. But that's not the oddest thing, only other thing that we found on Deidre McCionaoith was a birth certificate." Dyson even called in a few favors at that point trying to find something more on the woman. He had found pictures of the Rosenbergs thanks to the jackets of their books but he didn't think that they would be useful in any way.

"Well it appears as if we have found an answer and yet another question." Trick said. "Who are Deidre's parents?"

"Mother's name is Maeve McCionaoith and father unknown. No records for Maeve at all." Hale answered. "How does a woman just appear to have a kid and then disappear again?"

Trick remembered a Maeve back at the Unseelie court. Maeve was the daughter of Mab the queen. Maeve had been quiet compared to her family. Her mother called her soft, always reminding her that humans were nothing more than animals. There were rumors that Maeve's father was other human or a member of the Seelie court. Mab would admit to neither, either option was beneath her standing as queen. Trick had talked with Maeve she had taught him many things over the years. He still remembered the last time that he saw her, it was actually the last time he had seen a sidhe. He had received a message to meet her by the lake, she was secretive that day. Maeve had told him how much he taught her of humans and how things could be different if both sides worked together. He had thought it was odd at the time that she would wish him luck in his future. Trick had returned home to find that both the Seelie and Unseelie courts were empty. Maybe he had found the granddaughter of a long lost friend, if he could only prove it.

"Well at least we're not going in blind this time. I mean the Garuda and Bo's old man, how bad can it be?" Kenzi had confidence for whole group.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The afternoon had finally arrived. Both groups felt that they had the advantage, with all the research.

The Scoobies were wondering how everyone was going to react to Spike. He was already inpatient pacing back and forth, despite Willow's best efforts. Faith was just restless, she had already tried picking fights with Spike and Buffy in an effort to blow off steam. "That's it after this B we patrol. A city this size has to have some vamps."

"I just want to make through this afternoon with any bloodshed. For once I thought we had earned a break." Xander said pulling the car keys out of his pocket. "Does anyone know where we're going?"

"I'll just do a small locator spell just follow the light. Spike don't forget a blanket we don't know if there will be a parking garage for you to get out of the car." Willow agreed with Xander, she just wanted to get this day over with. Spike growled at the reminder that he was at such a disadvantage during the day.

Lauren was sitting in her lab going through slides and making notes. She was reviewing her files trying to find anything on a species of fae that would be immune to powers of both memsers and Valkyries. So far she was coming up empty handed, the Ash's security detail had arrived a few minutes before. Dyson and Hale would be out front with the others to greet the visitors.

Out front a green light floated up the driveway, followed by a car that stopped under the archway then it simply disappeared. "Did else see them following the firefly?" Kenzi asked looking around at the others trying to gauge their reactions. The only who seemed unfazed by it was Trick.

"Simple locator spell. It helps the lost find their way. I've seen human witches use that one before." Trick replied.

Bo was still puzzled, "Did they drive through town with that? Wouldn't someone have noticed? You can't hide what you are if go around doing stuff like that."

"If you were driving and saw that pass you when you believe it or just thought you imagine it?" Hale asked.

"Fine point taken." Bo answered as she watched Dyson walk up to the car to greet them.

"Welcome to the home of the Ash." Dyson stated as Buffy got out of the car. Buffy held out her hand to the Dyson.

Buffy looked after the group waiting to greet them as she and Dyson shook as warriors gripping the forearm of the other. Both were checking the other for weapons in order to better protect their group. She immediately took notice of the guards that stood like statues by the door. She looked behind herself and saw that Faith and Xander had exited the car. Willow and Spike however were waiting for to make sure that they were going inside out of the sun.

"You meet Xander last night and this is Faith. Willow is waiting in the car with Spike." Buffy said.

"Thank you for coming so quickly Faith, I'm called Trick." He stepped forward and greeted her with a firm handshake before continuing. "I thought that Willow was going to join us this afternoon?"

"She is but Blondie there can't be the sun. She won't get out till she's sure that he can make a run for the doorway. He doesn't want to risk anything." Faith was straight forward, without coming out and just saying he's a vampire.

"We need to ask that you disarm yourselves of any weapons before you can enter." Dyson was going to follow the Ash's orders.

"No. We are outnumbered. You think that we didn't notice the guards there, I'm pretty sure that there are more inside too. You want info and so do we, how about we all just agree to go inside." Buffy was upset. There was no way that she was giving up a single blade or stake.

Trick walked over and talked quietly to Dyson and the guards by the door. He wasn't happy but he understood their point. He would have demanded to have a weapon if he was in their place. It was not unreasonable request. Finally he walked back over and addressed the two Slayers. "If you would please get the rest of your party and we will continue inside."

Faith walked over and banged on the window getting the couple's attention. "Comin' Red?"

Spike and Willow quickly exited the car to follow everyone inside. Once inside Spike took one look at the group before he started. "Bloody hell! Are you kidding me? You just had to run into this ass." He stared at Vex, he remember him from a football match decades ago. Spike had walked into a pub for the Arsenal club singing loudly the praise of Manchester United.

Vex for his part had a harder time recognizing the other man, before he pictured him with darker hair. "Oi, what are you doing here? Thought that you'd be dead by now. Considering that you committing suicide that day."

"Not my fault that Manchester won the cup in '77." Spike had been a loyal fan since the early 1900's and when home to England whenever he could for title games. There was nothing quite like watching the game with other fans. Spike was goading the other man enjoying the fact that he had made a lasting impression on him.

Kenzi was the one that tried to break the tension this time "Vex, what's blondie talking about?"

Dyson listened to enough of the two, and knew that it would only get worse. He was going to have to break it up, but Willow spoke first. "Spike your team won don't rub it in."

Faith laughed at the whole thing. "Huh you make friends everywhere you go?" She was starting to think that this little trip was going to be interesting after all.


	10. Chapter 10

Author Notes:

Sorry that it took so long for this chapter. I've started a new job and day is the last day of kindergarten for my only son. I want to thank all the people that have reviewed my story or are tracking it waiting for updates.

Chapter 10

Lauren looked up as the two groups walked into the lab. She scanned the newcomers quickly recognizing the three from the previous night. She was surprised to see two extra people instead of the one as planned. A quick glance at Dyson confirmed that he was not happy with the whole situation.

Faith leaned over to Willow's ear. "So who is the hottie in the white coat?" She only got a giggle and blush as a response . She figured she wouldn't get much more than that, while Willow was with Spike she figured that Willow could still look.

The doctor choose that moment to walk over and introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Lauren, you must be Faith." She held her hand out to the young woman standing in front of her. Lauren was reminded of Bo looking at the dark haired slayer. She thought that here was another woman that was used to keeping people at arms length. Lauren wondered what had happened in her past to harden her.

For her part Faith was taken with the blonde doctor from the start. "Yeah that's men." While the doctor was nice to look at, she wasn't stupid enough to trust her.

Dyson decided they needed to get things moving. "I think it's time to get started with the tests and examiners that Lauren has ready."

"Huh? Wait a minute we agreed to meet with you and talk. Maybe share some info but no here is a lab experiment." Xander was not going to stand by and watch his friends be poked and prodded. "What tests can we run on you huh? You already seem to know more about us then we do about you. So what do we get to do to you?" Xander was glaring openly by the time he finished. He had agreed to a more mutual sharing.

The fae just stared at the human shocked that he would speak to them like that. Over time they had all accepted Kenzi, but this was proof that they stiill thought humans were beneath them. For her part Kenzi started laughing, she was starting to like this guy. Clearly he didn't care that he was out numbered.

Dyson shot Kenzi a look and growled to remind her to be quiet. It should have been low enough that only those close to him could hear it. Dyson however didn't realize that there was a vampire with the strangers. Almost instantly Spike had moved Willow behind him and let his demon shift forward changing his face. Both Buffy and Faith shifted into fighting stance waitiing to see what was going to happen next. Xander pulled his knife ready to join the fight if needed. For her part Willow focused on the doorway behind them, they stood a better chance if she kept more people from joining.

All the Fae noticed the Scoobies reactions. Both Dyson and Bo stepped forward ready to deal with whatever that blonde man happened to be. They knew for certain that he wasn't human. Hale had decided however to try to end this quickly, he whistled to sedate the other group. The bad news was that it succeeded in taking out three of the five but left the slayers standing. Buffy and Faith watched their friends drop to the ground. Willow's spell on the doorway fell . the five extra guards were able to charge in.

"Looks like nine against two B. Who gets the leftovers?" Faith smiled it had been awhile since she had had a good fight.

Buffy smirked. "Let's flip for it." And as if they were reading each other's thoughts Faith launched Buffy who flipped up and over the heads of Dyson and Bo. The blonde landed swiftly on her feet quickly kicking out to sweep Dyson's feet out from under him. He managed to dodge the kick but the deflected blow knocked over Bo instead. Bo landed with a thud.

Meanwhile Faith was focusing on the guards. he first guard that attacked her appeared to blue a shifter of some kind. HIs eyes had split pupils like a cat, and he slashed at her with retractable claws. Lucky for Faith she was faster, he tore her leather jacket and just broke he skin and was able to draw blood. Faith feinted left then rolled right toward her fallen friends. She was on her feet again with Xander's knife in her hand. Faith aimed almost instantly throwing the weapon at the ct man before turning to deliver a roundhouse kick to the head of guy that thought he could sneak up on two down and out the for the count she took a moment to see how Buffy was fairing.

Bo had taken the hit personally. Both women were entirely focused on each other. Faith watched as Bo quickly picked up on Buffy's style and adjusted for it. After Buffy was able to get a few quick punches in actually making contact she tried a kick again. Bo struck out at the same second and caught Buffy's foot. Bo pulled her off balance, causing Buffy to fall forward. Bo leaned in towards Buffy's mouth. Buffy could only watch as the now glowing blue eyed woman moved in to kiss her. Faith noticed a blue mst float from Buffy to Bo's mouth, just before the blonde slayer fell to the ground.

"Wow," was the only thing that Bo could say before she fell to the ground landing on top of Buffy.

Trick had seen enough. Faith had injured two of the Ash's guards in mere minutes. The remaining guards were treating the shoulder wound the knife and trying to wake the unconscious one. Trick stepped forward to stand in the middle of the two groups. "Enough, this is getting us nowhere." When he heard the growling from Dyson he simply turned to glare out the wolf. Trick approached Faith with hands out in a peace offering."I never meant to harm you or your friends. Please allow me a chance to try to make things right with no more bloodshed."

"You might have meant to harm, but you dog did." Faith was angry her friends were all out cold on the floor. Then there was the fact that the short guy was talking to her lie she was in charge. Faith did not like being in charge after the accident with the potentials back in however was shocked that she appeared to know what Dyson was. "Don't look so shocked I've seen a werewolf before, none with that much control but still a wolf."

"So you meet other shifters before?" Trick asked.

"No other werewolves. Now why don't you tell me what the hell is wrong with my friends." Faith answered.

"Those there are only sleeping. You should be able to wake them shortly. Hale told her. Armed with knowledge Faith decided that she could wake at least one of the sleeping trio. She walked over and grabbed a fistful of Spike's shirt then punched him full force in the jaw.

Spike was up the instant that her fist made contact. "Bloody hell woman, thought we were friends. Once he was over the initial shock of his wakeup call, he noticed Willow laying on the floor next to him. He immediately checked her over. Once he was satisfied that she was just asleep he looked around noticing the remains from a fight. Faith was busy with buffy, so Spike checked Xander over. "The whelp is fine just asleep.' he grinned as he added, "Can I wake him up now?"

Faith knew exactly what Spike was thinking. She knew that the only threat that would work. "Remember what Red did the last time you hurt Xander? And at least that was only a training accident." She smiled as she remembered that one, Willow was reading one of the Harry Potter book at the time. She had kept her pet white ferret for a week before turning him back. To this day Dawn would call him Draco whenever Willow was upset with him.

Kenzi watched this group of strangers interact. she was surpised how like their own ragged tagge group they were. She walked further into the lab clearly looking for something particular. She walked back over to where Xander and Willow lay on the floor with a large bucket in hand. Spike already knew what she had in mind and was able to get out of the way before Kenzi emptied the five gallons on the duo.

Xander shot up gasping for breath. Willow however immediately started yelling. "Xander!" her sleep addled mind thought Xander was once again trying to restart their prank war.

"Hey I didn't do it this time look I'm wet too." Xander tried to defend himself. The last thing he needed was Willow and Spike teaming up to get him again.

Kenzi started laughing at his outburst. She held her hand to help him up. "I think I like your style."

Kenzi never got a chance to say anything else, because Willow had noticed Buffy and Bo. Looking directly at Faith she asked, "Why are their auras all mixy?"

"Hell if I know Red. Looked like Bo was going to kiss her and then they both fell down"

"Bo feeds on chi. It shouldn't have touched her aura. Normally Bo will be energized after feeding not passing out." Trick was confused and a little worried about his granddaughter.

Willow listened and remembered that they had seen this last year. She looked up at Faith, " Remember that Tavara demon last year, he feed on chi too."

"Yeah Red but he dropped, not me."

"Well he didn't get as much of your aura as Bo got of Buffy's/ It seems that things can't feed off a slayer's chi. You give up a small part of your aura to overwhelm the enemy. I should be able to separate them and they'll wake up then. But i need help." Trick stepped forward silently offering his services. "No your aura is too much like Bo's. Are you two related somehow?" Willow was too focused on Trick to notice the shocked faces of the others. "She can help." Willow pointed ato Kenzi. "She has some magic, she should be able to hold a protection bubble for them while i pull the auras off to untangle them."

Kenzi was just shocked. She didn't feel that thre was anthing special about herself aside from her fashion sense. "You sure about that I mean I don't want to hurt BoBo or anything."

"It's easy just picture a bubble surrounding them. We are just preventing other energy from getting under their auras. I'll give you the energy you just have to focus on keeping them safe," Willow held her hand out to Kenzi. Once their hands touched Willow slowly started to feed the younger woman the magic that the earth was giving her. "Now concentrate and picture something to keep them safe."

"Like what an egg." Kenzi was shaking from the power that Willow was slowlyfeeding her. Her whole body was humming in her ear, while a warmth settled in the center of er body.

"An egg shell would work, it protects the baby chicks till they are strong enough to live outside it." Willow smiled at Kenzi. She was reminded of training the slayers that had some magic abilities. And she watched with a second sight as the barrier formed around the two fallen women. She smiled at Kenzi letting her know how good the young woman was doing. Willow took a deep breath and pulled the mixed auras free of Buffy and Bo. Once that was done she started to ntagle the knot, it took her half an hour. When Willow released the final peices to each person both women shot straight up hitting the barrier Kenzi was still holding.

"Ok Kenzi it's safe now." Willow told her. At some point Kenzi had started to provide the energy for the barrier on her own so Willow pulling her hand awawy did nothing.

"Sorry BoBo." Kenzi said as she let her friend out.

"Can someone explain what happened." Bo remembered feeding from the small blonde. The power was amazing and then nothing. She knew she was missing something. Bo looked at Dyson, the relief was evident on his face.

"If I knew I would tell you." Dyson was as curious as Bo was to know what had happened.

"Remember that Tavara demon B?"

"Not again, it took forever to clean the purple goo out of my hair. It left my hair purple for over two months. Make Spike kill it this time, he could use some color." Buffy liked her blonde hair and was not wanting to repeat that personal nightmare.

"Chill B, it was her," Faith pointed at Bo before continuing "not a Tavara but they say that she feeds on chi like it."

"I passed out this time?" She knew the answer considering the fact that she had woken up on the floor.

"You both lost too much of your auras but it's better was uneasy now. She wante answers and this new group only wanted info, they didn't seem to like of idea of giving anything in bartender from last night seem to be the Giles of the group so she started there. "Look we've tried playing nice, but Xander's right. Why would we give you anything unless you plan on sharing too? We've not survived this long by just giving away our secrets." Willow was mad she hated the double standards that so many groups in the supernatural community had.


End file.
